Welcome to the crafty corner of my life! See the newest items added to my Etsy shop, watch I go on craft show adventures, see my craft room / play room come to life, and stay up to date with Close to my Heart.

Monday, October 31, 2011

Welcome to our Stamp of the Month Blog Hop! This month, we are featuring the November Stamp Of the Month, which is called Cherish The Day. This is one of my favorite!

If you have come here from Annette's Blog, you are on the right path! The blog hop is a great big circle, so you can start here and work your way all around. If you get lost along the way, you’ll find the complete list of participating consultants here.

This
month, we have over 50 Close To My Heart Consultants sharing their
creations using this special stamp set and other great CTMH products on
their blogs. This is simple to do - just click on the link at the end of
the post on each blog to move to the next one! Here we go!

This is my creation. I made a birthday card that I was able to personalize with the month and date of my friend's special day!

I am also working on a Halloween Scrapbook page that I will post soon. (So check back) I also plan to use this stamp set in my Valentines. I am also keeping it in mind to create a Wedding card for the next Wedding we are invited to.

This is a very exciting stamp set to have in your collection because it is so versatile and can be used to personalize your handmade items. I love that you can customize the date to one that is special to a card recipient. You can own it also, but it is only available during the month of November. Click here to order yours from me!

Now hop on over to Alissa's Blog to see what she created with the same stamp set!

I LOVE the Halloween Season! Not because of the evil (muwahahhaha), but more so the creativity that abounds! (and the candy is a plus!) Hehehe.

Halloween costumes are so much fun! They are even more fun when my work has a costume contest, complete with great prizes! I have placed high enough to earn prizes in the past. (an 8 months pregnant "Juno" when I was pregnant with my son, a Bubble Bath, and an Angel/Devil). This year I wanted to be a bit funny and go with something that reflected on an event of this year that many would recognize, and those who did not would be talking... :)

Does anyone remember the Royal Wedding? (ha!) There was a certain Royal Cousin (Princess Beatrice) in attendance with a VERY attention demanding hat upon her head. It made HEADlines! I was able to recreate her hat. Her hat cost more them $130K, mine was about $5 with some felt, hot glue, floral ring, and foam. Here they are side by side.

The hat DOES defy gravity, I will give it that. But I'm not sure that the trend of dressing head to toe in skin color is a good idea for anyone. I do not recommend it. One might be mistaken for being naked when seen from afar.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

It craft show season! I have myself booked at a few shows this year and each time I set up and take down I think of ideas to make it easier and quicker for the next show. I wanted to share my learning adventure with you so that you can take some of these ideas to apply to yourself if you like. It is all a matter of figuring out what works best for you.

This is me at my booth at my most recent craft show. I used two 6 foot folding tables and put them in an L-shape. (My favorite table is from Staples, it folds in half, has wheels to roll on, AND is lite!) The L-shape gives the crowd room to come up to see my items, but not get trapped in traffic, which happened when I used to set up in a U-shape. My booth buddy, Sara, found purple tableclothes at the dollar store and we used those as a base. Then we covered it with a few purple cloth table clothes that my mom and I had made for my wedding reception and then saved. (Can you guess what my favorite color is?)

To add height to the display I have a few white storage cubes from Micahels. (I was sure to purchase each with a 40% off coupon or comparable sale, because they can be on the pricey side). I store my items inside the drawers as I finish them and then when I get to my show I open the drawers at varied depths to display the items. I love the cubes so much! I originally purchased them as a storage solution for my craft room, but the room is not ready yet, so I use them at my shows for now.

This was the first time I displayed magnets, they are my newest item. For this show I used a display I already had at home, which was my antique milk jug from our family farm. For future shows my idea is to find metal trays that fit in my cube drawers. This will allow me to place the magnets on the tray and slide them into the drawers for transport. Then when I get to the show I just take out the tray and display it. With the current milk jug scenario each magnet is placed on the jug at the show and then taken off when we head home. They trays inside the cube would save me a lot of time if I continue to carry this item.

This white shelf is a wall hanging cabinet that is sold in the bathroom decor area at walmart and target. I use it at my shows upside down because the top of it makes a sturdy base. This is perfect for featured items and small display items. I have a drawer-less cube behind this and it faced me when I stood behind the booth. This gave me organized access to my bags, knuckle buster, receipt books, pens, and such.

In the middle of the display was our card feature. This time we went with purple bins. The bins allowed the customers to flip through the available cards in different categories. We had a bargain bin, Christmas, multipack sets, and miscellaneous. We used tiny clear easels to display a card from each category. We set these on white squares to give them some height as they sat behind the bins.

We used the flat space at one end of a table to set up our hand decorated picture frames. We also used Sara's Christmas Tree to display hand made ornaments.

I would love to hear from you what ideas you saw here that you like best? Also, what other solutions do you use for your craft show display that will save space and time?

Thursday, October 20, 2011

I wanted to add a little more variety to the hand stamped items I offer at my craft show booths. I have had a box of vintage glass nuggets for years. It spent a few years packed in my parent's basement, then moved with me a few times. Now it resides in my house and is shuffled around as we work on finishing our basement. I've been on a personal mission to make the most of things I already have. So, when I gave myself the challenge of a new item to feature at my craft show booth... AND then I tripped on the box of glass nuggets, I knew it was a sign to finally create something with them!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

I am so excited to have dug into my "Dreamin'" Kit! I LOVE the Autumn colors in this kit, and playing with the sparkly over-sized brads and the glitz gel is so much fun! I found some photos from last year of my daughter and I knew right away they would be perfect for the colors on these papers. Then I spotted a layout pattern in Studio J that I knew I wanted to try and recreate in paper.

I found the Heart 2 Heart Challenge for Close to my Heart Consultants. This week is "tell a story in your journaling on a scrapbook page". So, since I was going to title this layout "Farm Princess" I decided to tell the story in a "Once upon a time" style. I think it turned out pretty cute! Visit the challenge to see what stories others have journaled in their scrap-booking!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I am on a bit of a challenge kick lately! I am just so excited by the inspiration the challenges bring to me! In this card I combined both a card sketch challenge AND an Inspiration trigger. The sketch layout challenge is from this week's Heart to Heart challenge blog. I paired this layout with the inspiration I found in the "Tuesday Trigger" from the Moxie Fab World Blog. So these are the two pictures I starred at while coming up with my plan for my card...

I came up with an Apple themed "with Gratitude" Card. It is perfect for giving with a gift for the Teacher you appreciate. I used the yellow patterened paper (CTMH Mayberry B&T Duo Papers) to create the "layered" look from the inspiration dessert. The Apple (CTMH Stamp Set from the Mayberry Kit) is a focused accent on the top layer, just like the inspiration desert.

I hope you like my creation and I can't wait to see what other ladies came up with based on the same challenges! I will be keeping an eye on it!

This is the card I created based on the above sketch as inspiration! Instead of a circle medallion I used the medallion shape that had a coordinating shape I could cut on my cricut to the stamp I wanted to use. (I used he Close to My Heart Art Philosophy Cricut bundle). The stamp in the medallion reads "For a Special..." and then the card giver can check a box for "Teacher, Mom, Brother, Friend, Dad, or Sister". Very cute! I like the versatility of purposes this card can have for giving. I think it may be a great card to stock for my next craft show! :) Let me know what YOU think!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Today is World Card Making Day! I love to celebrate, so I had to participate! :) I made a card that I am so excited about, because it was one of those that started falling into place easily as I worked. Ideas just kept coming to me! A Birthday Card, Ta Da!